Sinful
by dti
Summary: "To him, Naruto's walking out on their friendship. Their relationship is too complicated for the small things not to matter." TwoShot
1. Sin

Sinful

"To him, Naruto's walking out on their friendship. Their relationship is too complicated for the small things not to matter."

October tenth: the day of the Kyuubi festival. It was the first time in years that Sasuke had people to plan to go with. Kakashi had suggested that the team meet for at least a small portion of the fair for some good old-fashioned team bonding. Secretly, Sasuke almost looked forward to it.

It was highly expected that every citizen of Konoha, ninja or civilian, attend the event. Going wasn't a question of yes or no, but rather _when_. Even after his clan had been murdered and he had slipped into his antisocial cocoon, he had still at least rounded up the energy to attend the festival. It was just something that no one even thought about missing. The idea just sounded disrespectful and, although Sasuke was called many things, insolent wasn't one of them.

He never enjoyed the festival after the murder of his clan. Walking the crowded streets alone was nothing to get excited about. Even the booths lining the streets seemed less bright when there was no one he cared to look at them with. But still, he went.

But this year was different. There would be three living beings waiting for him at the entrance to the fair. There were three very important people willing to share the precious time with him and the feeling of pleasant gratitude reached even him way up on his pedestal.

So when he reached the rendezvous point to see only two out of the expected three, he couldn't help but feel annoyed. And the fact that it was _Naruto_ who was late rather than Kakashi was the last thing he anticipated. He figured this was the kind of thing Naruto couldn't get enough of. Naruto was childish by nature; he was easily entertained and content to be thrilled by even the smallest of things.

So the fact that he was late, later than Kakashi no less, was the last thing Sasuke expected.

"He's not coming," Kakashi stated, earning a slightly taken aback look from the raven who had to wonder if he had spoken his thoughts aloud, and a puzzled look from the pink haired kunoichi next to him.

"Who's not coming? You don't mean Naruto?" Sakura asked, her tone sounding disappointed.

"Just let it go," the silver haired man urged, resting a hand on Sasuke's tense shoulder, "Both of you. Naruto has a very good reason to stay home and I'd appreciate if you both respect his privacy by just dropping it now."

"Bullshit," the raven accused as he dipped out from under Kakashi's grasp on his shoulder. He had no idea why Naruto's absence was affecting him so much but it was. He couldn't help but feel a sort of personal vendetta over the situation. Naruto was all alone too. Wasn't he feeling the same kind of anticipation Sasuke was? There was no way Sasuke had misinterpreted the entire situation to this extent, "There's no possible excuse he could come up with to dodge out of this. Unless he's in the hospital I really just can't see what could be more important right now."

Just as Sasuke finished, a woman pushed a wheelchair carrying an injured shinobi toward the center of the village where the festival was in full swing.

"Excuse me, but can I ask how you got your injury?" Sasuke asked, earning two looks of disbelief from his pink haired teammate and his silver haired teacher; he was acting completely out of character.

"Oh this? I was impaled by a beam during a construction accident on a mission a few days ago," the injured shinobi answered happily.

"Impaled by a beam," the raven repeated for his team, his tone clearly sarcastic, "And he still found his way here."

"Sasuke, it's none of your business. Naruto's situation is incomparable to anything your thinking."

"Bullshit," he accused once again before turning away toward the direction of Naruto's apartment.

"Sasuke, where do you think you're going?" Kakashi interrupted, his hand grabbing the teen by the shoulder to pull him back.

"As a member of the same team, I don't see why I don't deserve an explanation," the raven stated angrily as he dipped out from under his teacher's grasp once again, throwing him an incredulous look.

"You're making a bigger deal out of this than is necessary."

"I'm not blowing this out of proportion. This _is_ a big deal to me."

And before Kakashi or Sakura could get a word in, he took off to the rooftops, leaving a deafening silence in his wake.

"Kaka-sensei?" Sakura began, her voice filled with disappointment, "Why's this such a big deal to him?"

Kakashi seemed to take a moment of silence to gather his thoughts, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke.

"Naruto and Sasuke share a unique similarity and they both express the importance of the bond they've made from it differently. Naruto's never had a family or anything close to it. He doesn't understand the importance of tradition like Sasuke. Sasuke doesn't understand what it's like _not_ to understand something. He just can't compute that Naruto doesn't feel any sort of nostalgia by missing the festival. To him, Naruto's walking out on their friendship. Their relationship is too complicated for the small things not to matter. And to Sasuke, this time, attending the festival with his team, with you and Naruto, was a big deal."

Sakura didn't respond as she let the words sink in.

It wasn't long before Sasuke was just outside the blonde's apartment complex, staring down through the window leading into his bedroom from the roof of the building across the street. In a swift feat of agility, he jumped from the edge of the roof, landing gracefully and noiselessly on the balcony under the window.

But when he looked in through the glass, it was to see an empty apartment, void of any kind of hint that there'd been human life inside it for days, possibly weeks.

"The hell?" Sasuke mumbled as he reached for the window, attempting to open it and swearing under his breath when it refused to even budge.

After admitting that the window wasn't opening without being broken, Sasuke jumped to the dirt road under the window sill before taking the stairs to the hallway where he would find Naruto's front door.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he read the note taped to the door, the words 'Eviction Notice' printed in red above a sheet of fine print, the yellowing of the paper and the date stamped near the bottom each signs that the 'eviction' dated back several months.

_This doesn't add up_, the young avenger thought to himself, his mind working a mile a minute to try to understand what was going on. Naruto never told them he was being evicted. Why would he keep quiet about something so important?

There was a loud crash from an apartment across the hall, followed by angry screams from the residents inside. Sasuke and turned toward the noise in a defensive stance out of habit, his sharingan spinning as they were subconsciously activated, but soon turned his attention back toward the door of his friend's apartment, reminding himself that what happened behind closed doors was none of his business.

That was when the door caught his eye, his sharingan picking up the presence of familiar chakra inside the room. Naruto was home; he was _definitely_ home.

He looked closer at the door, noticing a thin layer of chakra coating the entire wall where Naruto's apartment was.

His jaw dropped open when he realized what he was seeing.

Since when could Naruto perform and maintain this kind of genjutsu? He doubted anyone outside of the Hyuuga clan besides himself and Kakashi – who both possessed the sharingan – would even _suspect_ the illusion, not to mention, detect it and dispel it.

Sasuke grabbed a kunai as he reached for the door knob, knowing knocking would be pointless. He slid the kunai up through the space between the door and the frame, unlocking the deadbolt with such ease it was as if he were practiced at breaking into this very apartment.

He swung the door open, unsurprised to find the apartment the way he remembered it, with all of Naruto's belongings still littering it's small space, and Naruto himself sitting at the kitchen table, a look of complete shock written all over his features.

But the quiet moment only lasted for a instant before Naruto darted for the front door, the chair that was once beneath him now lying tipped over on the floor as he slammed the door shut, replacing the deadbolt before turning to glare at the raven now standing in his kitchen.

"What the hell?" they both yelled in unison, each set of eyes demanding answers.

"You first!" Naruto yelled immediately, pointing an accusing finger at the raven.

"No, you first! What the hell Naruto! What is so important that you not only ditched your team but went through such extreme measures to hide the fact that you were home? And when the hell did you learn…genjutsu – dobe? What–?" he trailed off as his eyes caught the sight of a deep purple bruise on the blonde's cheekbone and another around his neck.

"Stop staring, asshole," the blonde mumbled under his breath as he rubbed his bare arms insecurely which, when Sasuke looked, were also covered in dark bruises.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, his tone just daring Naruto to lie.

"It's none of your business."

"It's absolutely my business."

"Why's today so damn important to you anyway?" Naruto interrupted, ignoring Sasuke's argument altogether.

"It's one of the most important days in Konoha's history. It _should_ be celebrated."

"No, it's a terrible day in history and the last thing people should do is celebrate the memory of it."

Sasuke paused for a moment, internally applauding the blonde's quick wit. It was unexpected to say the least.

"Ok, celebrated was a bad choice in words, but that's beside the point. A lot of people died on this day thirteen years ago, and they died protecting people they love. I don't see why they shouldn't be honored with a day in commemoration."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"You know exactly what I'm doing here. I'm surprised you didn't _expect_ me," the raven stated, his eyes narrowing when Naruto's did too.

There were several moments of silence where both boys spent a good amount of energy mustering up the dirtiest looks they could, detest piling into the air, making the atmosphere feel thick and uncomfortable.

"I don't owe you an explanation. I already talked to Kaka-sensei. Go away," the blonde demanded, breaking the silence.

"You _do_ owe me and explanation. Kakashi isn't involved in this discussion. I'm not leaving."

"This isn't a discussion, discussions transpire between two civil parties – which we clearly aren't. _This_ is a fist-less argument."

"That's opinion, not fact."

"So is the statement in which you think you deserve justification."

Sasuke had to fight the growl rising in his throat, his scowl deepening in the process. Since when was Naruto so quick to confute and since when was he intelligent enough to not be wrong in doing so?

"We're going," the raven stated in a finalizing tone as he grabbed a tan wrist, pulling slightly to get his point across.

"No, Sasuke stop," Naruto whined as he yanked his wrist free, liberating himself from Sasuke's grasp, "I really don't want to go so stop. _Please_."

"You're acting like a child. Everyone's already there. It's a tradition to our village and you're acting disrespectful by wanting to skip it," Sasuke stated, hoping to con Naruto into it by belittling him like he usually could.

But Naruto's downcast gaze just stayed where it was. He didn't raise defiant eyes that promised he'd beat the odds like he always did and he didn't bounce back and thrive on criticism like he always did.

His head was lowered in defeat and he was making no move to argue which made Sasuke feel slightly uneasy.

"Easy for you to say, have you ever even been on the receiving end of a hateful glare from someone who you didn't share mutual hatred with?"

"You mean from someone other than you?" Sasuke teased, earning a vaguely taken aback look that puzzled him slightly.

Naruto shook his head again before he turned to leave, mumbling a string of words that Sasuke had to strain to hear and that sounded along the lines of, "That's exactly what I mean."

Sasuke never really understood why but…Naruto's insecurity _hurt_. Naruto was supposed to be this untouchable being. No one could bring him down from the place he'd put himself. No amount of awful words could affect him before.

So why did they now?

"Wait, I'm sorry," Sasuke apologized, stopping Naruto in his tracks who turned back around to gaze at him expectantly, "Just–"

"I don't see how you can think this is any of your business. I don't want to go. You can't make me," he stated, speaking in a low tone.

Sasuke was about to argue back when he realized Naruto was having a difficult time standing, his weight being heavily supported by an arm using the backrest of the chair that hadn't been knocked over in the rush to shut the front door.

"Ok, festival aside, what happened?"

Naruto shifted his gaze away, a bitter smile slipping across his lips.

"I can't really answer when you say 'festival aside'," the blonde sighed, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck, "Ok how's this?" he began, an idea presenting itself, "We drop the subject, never talk about it again, and I won't kick you out and neither of us have to go to the festival."

"I wanted to go to the festival," the raven admitted, his unprotected tone catching Naruto off guard, "I thought you did too."

Naruto had to make sure to tighten his jaw, if he hadn't it would have been hanging open.

"I guess it's not something a kid would notice but, I've never once gone to the festival. It's almost literally the last thing I'd ever want to go to."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly at the wording. Why would that be something a _kid_ wouldn't notice? Was it something adults had noticed before?

But before he could ask, Naruto coughed harshly, his hand clutching his chest and his features forming a grimace as pain swept through him. His hand slipped from the backrest of the chair and his knees hit the ground with a thud.

He expected for the ground to rise to meet him but tensed from the unfamiliarity of steadying arms holding him up instead.

"Just how badly are you hurt?" the raven asked, concern clear in his tone.

"It's not that bad," Naruto assured, his breathing quick and short. Sasuke guided him gently across the floor, resting his back against the cabinets.

"It _seems_ bad," the dark haired teen stated, reaching for the hem of the blonde's shirt.

"Don't," the blonde protested weakly when Sasuke began lifting his shirt. Sasuke easily slapped Naruto's hands away as he continued pulling up the t-shirt until he could see the blonde's chest.

"Holy shit, Naruto," Sasuke breathed, his eyes roaming over the injuries littering his body, "Talk."

"It's not as bad as it looks."

"You're right, it's worse," the brunette stated, his sharingan spinning as they activated, the damaged circulatory system of chakra revealing the internal wounds beneath the bruises.

"Seriously, Naruto, who did this?"

"Just quit it!" the blonde weakly objected as he smacked Sasuke's hand away, his shirt dropping back over his tan skin, hiding the bruises from plain sight, "Tsunade already came to see me so just let it go."

"Someone beat the _shit_ out of you! What did you _do_?" Sasuke asked in an accusing tone.

"Typical," Naruto bit back, "It's something _I_ brought on _myself_, right? It couldn't _possibly_ be anyone's fault but mine."

"No one hits another person like this for no reason."

"Maybe not in your perfect world. But in the real world, the one everyone's living in under that pedestal you're so high up on, people get beat up for nothing all the time."

"So then that's your story?"

"No, it's my explanation and it's as good as it's gonna get so–"

"I needed you today."

Naruto could tighten his jaw all he wanted, but this time his mouth fell open and there was no fighting it. There was no possible way he had heard that right. Those words just didn't exist to be said to him.

"You don't know what you're saying," the blonde mumbled, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with guilt.

"I do know what I'm saying. Aren't we friends?"

"Friends?" Naruto asked, his voice filled with disbelief, "Wait, what?"

"Do you not think we're friends?" Sasuke asked, almost sounding incredulous.

"Sasuke, what makes you think I would ever interpret any type of interaction we've shared as friendly? I don't know what's gotten into you, but you hate me, remember?"

"Why does it sound like that's just something _you_ believe that you're trying to convince _me_ of?"

Naruto raised a half-amused eyebrow, his look practically asking for Sasuke to get real. There were several tense moments of silence before Sasuke sighed, breaking the silence.

"Ok, maybe I don't express myself in an appropriate way, but it's not like you do either. You play a pretty good role of hating me too," Sasuke began, his voice sounding almost – just almost – nervous, "But I guess it's important and I _have_ to say it," he continued on, sounding as if he were stalling for something, "Since you're such an idiot, I always have to spell it out," he complained, pausing as his features softened and he made sure to look Naruto straight in the eye, "You're my most important person," he admitted, a light blush tinting his cheeks when Naruto shot him a completely shocked look that told him Naruto _really_ believed Sasuke hated him.

That was sad.

"What?" the blonde finally breathed, unable to decide if this was really happening.

"You heard me, dobe. I'm not repeating myself," Sasuke stubbornly insulted, his arms crossing over his chest in an attempt to expel his embarrassment.

Sasuke had expected several different reactions. He'd expected Naruto to return the words with that huge smile only he was capable of pulling off; he'd expected for Naruto to call him names in an attempt to hide his own embarrassment; he'd even almost expected for Naruto to take a swing at him for the hell of it.

What he didn't expect however was for Naruto's eyebrows to furrow in guilt as he looked away, a ringing silence his only answer.

"When you say it that way, I feel bad. You just have no idea what you're getting into," the blonde explained in a tone Sasuke had never heard him use before. It sounded so strange for Naruto to come off as so guilty over something that should have been good news.

"Well then explain to me what I'm 'getting into'."

Naruto shook his head slightly, his eyes shutting as he breathed in deeply.

"Nope," he breathed as he slowly got up, his legs shaking from his own weight as he pulled himself up with the countertop as support, "No. Get out."

"What?" the raven asked incredulously as he too stood from the floor.

"I said get out!"

"You're being ridiculous," Sasuke accused, his voice filled with agitation.

"No I'm not! It should be my choice what you hate me for. Hate me because I'm loud and annoying and not because of something I can't control!" Naruto yelled, his voice sounding slightly hoarse when raised in irritation.

"It sucks doesn't it, not being in control?" the raven agreed, earning an angry glare.

"Shut up Sasuke, it's so much different for you. You can dish out your vendetta. And it's not like anyone blames you for what your brother did. At least people don't hate you for what you can't control. You're lucky you're not your own problem."

"What does that mean?" Sasuke asked, his voice filled with genuine curiosity.

But before Naruto could respond, there was a soft thud on the door that both Naruto and Sasuke recognized immediately: they threw enough kunai into wooden objects to know someone on the other side of that door had done just that.

Naruto reacted immediately, jumping as far away from the door as he could before the explosion went off, sending a shockwave through the kitchen that sent him through the half-open door to his bedroom. Sasuke kicked the kitchen table over and hid behind it as the paper bomb went off, the shockwave causing both him and the table to skid across the floor several feet.

Before the smoke could even clear, kunai were flying through the air. Sasuke sheltered behind the table for several more moments until the thuds of the weapons stopped hitting the other side. He grabbed a kunai, his sharingan activated and ready, as he eased over to where he last saw Naruto, deflecting countless kunai along the way.

That was when he realized that Naruto was weaponless. He was wearing a casual t-shirt and jeans with no kunai holster or weapons pouch in sight.

"Stay down, dobe!" the raven yelled as he deflected one kunai after another while he inched his way across the still smoky room.

But when he finally was within eyesight of the blonde, he was unsurprised to find him getting up, albeit slowly.

"Damn it! Get down or take this!" Sasuke insisted as he tossed Naruto a kunai, watching as cloudy blue eyes looked at him as if trying to hear or understand what he was saying, not even making an attempt toward catching the weapon. _He must have hit his head_.

But it was too late. Naruto grunted in pain as a kunai dug itself deep into his left shoulder, the momentum causing him to spin slightly before landing harshly on the ground, the pain seeming to snap him out of whatever daze he'd been in from the blast. He quickly, while keeping low to the ground, slammed his bedroom door shut just after Sasuke darted in after him, the reverberation of what sounded like fifteen or twenty kunai embedding into the door resounding immediately after.

Naruto darted across the room, the sound of glass shattering as he jumped through the window reaching Sasuke's ears, causing him to turn abruptly to see blonde locks just before they disappeared under the windowsill. Naruto's feet hit the dirt road and he immediately took off toward the bordering forest, his adrenalin letting him forget his injuries for the moment.

"Naruto! Wait!" Sasuke yelled as he took off after the blonde, jumping through the broken window just as the door was broken down.

Sasuke couldn't believe how hard Naruto was to keep up with, especially in his state. He looked over his shoulder before they were out of eyesight of the house, glad to see that no one was pursuing. His eyes returned to the road, widening slightly when he noticed the trail of blood Naruto was leaving behind.

"Dobe stop!" he yelled, his voice desperate for the blonde to just stop running, "You're gonna kill yourself! _Stop!_"

But it was a good ten minutes of hard sprinting and a couple miles before Naruto even slowed down. His legs seemed to give out on him and he only just managed to spin enough to land on his side rather than face down which would have driven the kunai still embedded in his shoulder even further in. Sasuke landed next to him not even seconds later, his arms grabbing Naruto wherever he looked least in pain as he eased the blonde onto his back, his head resting in his lap.

"Stop it!" Sasuke scolded when Naruto attempted to get up and continue running.

"I can't stop! I have to get out of here! They'll find me; my chakra signature is too strong! I'm a sitting duck," the blonde explained between sharp intakes of air, his demeanor tense and anxious as his eyes darted around the small clearing of forest they were in.

"I already checked, no one followed us. No one's been following since we left the apartment. What the hell happened back there?" Sasuke asked, his tone demanding answers.

Naruto seemed to relax slightly at the news, figuring the villagers wouldn't attack him so openly around their precious Uchiha Sasuke.

"I'm really sorry. Did you get hurt?" the blonde asked, earning an incredulous look in exchange.

"No, I didn't. Don't avoid the subject."

Naruto shot Sasuke a pleading look that begged for him to just let it go but Sasuke just returned in with an unyielding and almost uncaring look.

"I think after that, I do deserve an explanation."

Naruto's eyes shifted away; he knew Sasuke was right. There was no way he could ask for him to just forget it after he was so physically involved just moments ago. Sasuke had the right to know why hanging around him might be dangerous.

"Just – Ok, I'll explain. But just don't tell Sakura," the blonde pleaded, his eyes shutting tightly in an attempt to block out the pain coursing through him, his voice sounding slightly strained. Sasuke smirked in triumph before remembering the kunai still embedded in Naruto's shoulder.

"That's in deep," the raven stated, sounding slightly nervous at how much more serious it looked now that he was giving it his full attention, "Should I take you to the hospital?"

"No, it's fine. It'll–" he began before yanking the weapon out roughly and groaning softly in discomfort, "It'll heal soon."

"Soon? You've got to be kidding me!" Sasuke exclaimed, feeling anxious at how much blood was pouring out of the wound, "Hospital. Let's go," he stated as he began to sit Naruto up.

"Just wait…" the blonde insisted softly, his voice sounding resolved to impending disaster as Sasuke propped him against the trunk of a tree for support.

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed together when he watched the wound slowly stop bleeding, the broken skin now covered by healthily clotted blood.

And before he could stop himself, the words he knew he probably shouldn't ask slipped out of his mouth.

"What are you?"

The question seemed to crush what little life remained behind Naruto's downcast cerulean eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to word it that way," Sasuke apologized, his tone sounding almost sheepish.

"Today's my birthday," the blonde began, catching Sasuke completely off guard.

He suddenly felt overwhelmed with guilt. Naruto didn't forget to ask when _his_ birthday was. He also didn't forget to get him a gift. The same went for everyone else they knew. Did _anyone_ know today was his birthday?

"Why didn't you tell me?"

The only reply he got was a wry smile.

"What story did you learn about this day thirteen years ago?" Naruto asked, ignoring Sasuke's question all together.

"The Kyuubi attacked the village; the Fourth killed it," he stated bluntly. Naruto almost grinned at the raven's mannerisms; he never did beat around the bush.

"That's half right," the blonde sighed as he wracked his mind for a good way to go about explaining what really happened, "Three generations ago, a Bijuu like Kyuubi attacked Sunagakure. The villagers did everything they could to kill it but nothing they did even seemed to affect it," he continued, his voice sounding cynical, "So many people died. _Thousands_ of people died. As a last resort, the Kazekage sealed the Bijuu into a human baby. That baby did everyone a _favor_; he carried a terrible burden his whole life, and the village repaid its debt by killing him as they extracted his Bijuu in fear of losing its power should he die of natural causes. Immediately after, it was placed into a second human vessel, and the cycle continued. Gaara is the third-generation result of that cycle. He's what you would call a Jinchuuriki."

Sasuke felt numb. The pieces already put themselves together. He already knew what was coming; it was just a matter of hearing it.

"_I'm_ what you would call a Jinchuuriki."

Suddenly, _a lot_ of things made sense that weren't quite right before.

"I'm sorry," the blonde apologized softly, catching Sasuke slightly off guard with how sincere it sounded, "I didn't mean to make friends; I know it was selfish, but I tried to make you hate me. And I know companionship is practically mandatory for shinobi but I couldn't get any other kind of job. I–"

"Stop," Sasuke interrupted, surprised when Naruto immediately shut his mouth as if he'd expected to be told to shut up and was just waiting for the command, "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked, watching as Naruto's downcast gaze shifted further away in shame.

"What makes you think this changes anything?" the raven asked, watching as Naruto's eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if unsure of what to make of the question.

"It changes everything. I'm not like the other villagers. You can get away with so much knowing that. Practically every transgression against me is excusable. It really changes everything."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows through the explanation, a strange feeling similar to vengeance welling inside him from the new knowledge. It was clear who was responsible for Naruto's physical condition now, and it made him angry that his own village would do something like this to one of its shinobi.

"I'm not like the other villagers either. To me, this doesn't change anything."

Naruto shot the brunette a tired look before shifting his eyes away again.

"Well it should. I could kill you. Sometimes I can't control what I do; it's happened twice already. I don't remember anything but being angry. It's terrifying and surreal, like a bad dream. You _should_ hate me," the blonde insisted, his tone sounding guarded – as if he would break down if he didn't hold himself back from it.

"But I don't," the raven stated in a finalizing tone that caught Naruto off guard, "I don't hate you and I'm not afraid of you," he continued, watching as Naruto shut his eyes, his head leaning back to rest against the trunk of the tree he was still sitting against and his eyebrows furrowing together as he bit his bottom lip as if he were fighting against speaking, "And if you fall victim to another nightmare, I'll wake you up."

And like a chain reaction of subtlety, a small smile slipped across Naruto's features, grateful tears pouring down his whiskered cheeks from under his still-closed eyes.

"Thanks Sasuke," he whispered as he wiped the tear tracks away before finally making eye contact with the older boy, shooting him a grateful look. Maybe this friend-type-thing was ok.

Maybe this one sin could be forgiven.

End.

Ok sooo it's whatever you want it to be! Friendship? Maybe more? Maybe not? Sequal? Up to you guys.


	2. Impulse

The readers said let there be sequel so there was a sequel. And most of you said sasunaru so there was sasunaru.

Which means….WARNING! THIS CHAPTER HAS SASUNARU. Turn around if you hate that. If you don't, please enjoy :]

Also, I got an a review from someone who said they didn't like Naruto's vocabulary because it was too advanced (And I really appreciate you're review and opinion!) But people also seem to like the intelligent Naruto (me included tehe) and I already wrote this before I got your review, so I apologize if it's not up to standards! I would have e-mailed this to you of course, but it was annonymous so I couldn't.

**Impulse**

It had been nearly a month since Naruto had confessed his containment of the demon Kyuubi; which meant nearly a month in which countless amounts of tiny things started to make more sense than Sasuke thought was possible. He watched with sad, calculating eyes as villagers shot the blonde sidelong glares and whispered terrible words meant for him to hear among each other. He watched with sadder eyes as each gesture seemed to soak through his skin as ignorance that seemed to come back later.

Sure, Naruto could put up this visage in front of him and Sakura during the day, but as Sasuke lay awake long after most of the world was long asleep, he would watch as either nightmares haunted his blonde teammate's fragile mind or watch as the whiskered teen lay wide awake, gripping his blonde locks as he curled into himself in an attempt to grasp some sort of relief from whatever memories crawled through his shattered cognitive.

But never once did a word, whimper, or cry slip through his tight lips. He hadn't seen Naruto cry since that moment of happiness in the forest weeks ago which Sasuke could only assume had to be killing him. Even Sasuke had to admit that his nightmares dragged the child out of him. There was hardly a night he didn't have nightmares of his clan's murder that didn't bring him to tears. He could push the urge away on missions when he had his reputation to report to, but when he was home alone, he always let it go.

But Naruto didn't. He would watch from Naruto's windowsill as the blonde would sit up abruptly, his breathing quick and labored before slowly evening out, the look in his eye so hallow it usually sucked the air from Sasuke's very lungs.

So why was something so horrible so easy for Naruto to ignore?

But this time, something was different than the other nights. Sasuke watched as Naruto's tan, shaking fingers laced through his hair before gripping tightly at the blonde locks, his knees raising up to meet his forehead as he screamed until his voice was hoarse.

When he had run out of air, he tossed his sheets aside as he climbed out of bed, his harsh breathing sounding as if he were only just maintaining the crack in the dam he kept up to blockade the tears Sasuke knew were hiding just behind his tightly closed eyes.

But when his eyes flashed open, the look in those cerulean eyes was completely different from what he'd expected. There was no fear there like there used to always be about now. There was no sadness: just a firm expression of determination that alarmed Sasuke to see. He stumbled toward his bedside table, grabbing the top drawer and ripping entirely free from the remaining frame, several of the contents within spilling onto the floor from the rough and abrupt movement.

But Naruto didn't seem to be concerned with them at the moment. He sifted so roughly through the drawer that most of the remaining items ended up on the floor as well anyway.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly when Naruto pulled out a scroll, slamming it roughly on the tile before unraveling it across the floor and kneeling before it, a seal Sasuke had only seen once before painted across the expanse of the white paper.

It was the same seal he had seen imprinted on Naruto's stomach during the chuunin exams.

Sasuke wondered just what Naruto was planning to do and wondered if he should intervene. There wasn't anything too drastic he might attempt, right? Although, he seemed to be in a fringed sense of reality; maybe he should intervene anyway?

But his curiosity and fear of having to explain just what he was doing outside Naruto's apartment at four in the morning kept his feet glued to the windowsill.

"Leave me alone, _please_!" the blonde begged as he went through a long sequence of handseals, "Just shut up, _shut up_!" he screamed before biting the tip of his thumb and pressing the bleeding appendix to the middle of the paper where the center of the seal lay in dark ink.

Blood usually meant a summon, as far as Sasuke knew. That meant time to intervene.

Naruto gasped in pain as he preformed several more handseals but before he could touch his palms to the paper, Sasuke's cool hands wrapped around each of his wrists, holding them still nearly six inches above the floor.

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but the only thing that came out was a choked gasp when Naruto's hands, which stealthily escaped his hold, jabbed into the soft skin near each of his shoulders and again into his stomach, stunning and knocking the air from him.

Naruto immediately clapped his hands over his mouth when he realized what he'd done.

"Sorry!" he apologized quickly, when he dropped his hands into his lap which he began to wring out of nerves, "I thought – well I didn't think actually."

"I can tell, that was quick," the raven complimented in a strained tone before raising his eyes to meet Naruto's, strangely, red ones.

Just the look in Sasuke's eye must have given away his curiosity because Naruto immediately looked away.

"The seal is weakening," he explained in a voice that sounded almost ashamed, as if it were his fault.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, watching as Naruto's eyes narrowed as if he were trying to concentrate on what the raven was saying.

"Huh?" he breathed, making Sasuke wonder how he possibly could have missed what he said.

"I said, what do you mea–"

"_Shut up!_" Naruto suddenly screamed as he grabbed his hair, cutting through the raven who looked rather taken aback, "I'm sorry, not you," he explained in a strained voice before abruptly slamming his palms onto the seal lying across the floor and Sasuke watched as the seals on both the scroll and Naruto's abdomen began to glow a dark red which seemed to cause the blonde a great deal of pain.

He wrapped his arms tightly around his stomach as he fell back to sit on his feet before the floor began to rise up to meet him. Sasuke caught him by the shoulders and gently guided him to the floor just before he hit the ground. But in his dazed state, Naruto hardly seemed to notice.

"What did you do?" Sasuke asked, the apprehension clear in his tone.

"It's just a strengthening barrier between my cognition and Kyuubi's. It's nothing to worry about. Just a little bit painful," he explained, his words strained and coming in what seemed like difficult bits.

"A little bit? Seems worse than just a little bit."

"Maybe," the blonde agreed with a painful smirk, "But it fades quickly. So wanna explain why you've been outside my window the past couple weeks?" he asked, watching with amused eyes as the raven's jaw dropped slightly, a conservative blush painting across his cheeks.

"Tch, because you're such an idiot I figured if you didn't get some sleep you'd screw up all our missions and that affects me too, dobe," he insulted, his voice giving away the real meaning behind the biting words. Naruto smiled in spite of himself, knowing that was Sasuke's way of showing his concern while simultaneously saving face.

"I see. Well check the stats, Sasuke. We haven't failed a mission in four months, two weeks, and three days."

"Why do you remember that?" Sasuke asked, feeling rather curious as to why he would remember such an exact amount of days.

"Because it was my fault we failed it," he explained, a dignified amount of shame laced through his tone, "And it wasn't for lack of sleep. So you don't need to give up on your own just to see if I'm getting mine."

Sasuke's jaw nearly went slack by the explanation. He never spoke with such logical sequencing in front of anyone else. He also never used patience as a means to explanation in front of anyone. There was never anything he would say as curious as just now that would lead to a question, possibly in fear that no one would ask it, but Sasuke suspected it was because he just assumed the people who talked to him were too stupid to catch on to the fact that there was more information available upon just a simple question of what or why.

Sasuke didn't know whether to feel shocked by the revelation or flattered by the fact that Naruto considered Sasuke to be at least on the same level as himself.

And honestly, now that Sasuke really thought back on the past several weeks, he was beginning to consider Naruto of his own status as well. Did that make Naruto a genius?

"Can I ask a question?" the raven asked, ignoring the blonde's insistences altogether.

"Ask away," he encouraged, as he subconsciously rubbed his stomach to ease the ache while he sat up to lean against the side of the bed.

"What number did you really graduate in the class at the academy?"

Naruto raised a blonde eyebrow with what appeared to be an impressed expression.

"What would make you ask a question like that?" he countered, the corner of his lips twitching up to form an amused smirk.

"Don't tell me to 'ask away' if you have no intention of answering, dobe," Sasuke berated in an irritated tone.

"Ok! No slack with you! I graduated fourth, behind you, Sakura-chan, and Shikamaru. I really can't clone for my life," he explained, his tone sounding abashed as if it were embarrassing to admit he might fall behind so many people.

"How hard did you try to graduate that far up in the ranks?"

"About as hard as you tried to graduate first."

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched up as he let out the air in his lungs through his mouth, knowing that with a little more effort, he would have easily graduated second, if not first.

"Why did Iruka always yell at you for nearly failing all the time?"

Naruto laughed lightly before smacking Sasuke lightly on the back.

"What is this anyway? Twenty questions?"

"I want to know. It's not like I'll judge you or anything. I think I proved myself in that aspect already," the raven pleaded, feeling embarrassed for having to resort to such a demeaning means of getting the information he wanted.

"Alright," Naruto obliged, nodding once as his eyes shifted to the floor, "I wasn't allowed to publically show any sort of anomalous aptitude in any subjects we learned at the academy. I didn't really understand why until I _did_ publically show a little too much talent in spite of that rule and nearly got killed by a bunch of villagers and a couple shinobi who freaked out about me getting lessons from Kyuubi, which I've never done. They were worried I would get too strong and turn on the village. I've never raised a finger to any villager," he defended, his tone suddenly vulnerable, unlike the guarded tendency he'd been keeping up through the prior explanation, "I hate these," he mumbled as his hands rose to rub self-consciously at his cheeks, "It's bad enough to host a demonic fox but why do I have to look like one too?"

"I think they're cute."

Complete silence.

Sasuke didn't know how to react to his own words. What the _hell_ was he thinking saying something so irrational? Naruto's expression was unreadable. His eyes were blank and behind them it seemed as if he were trying to decide if he'd heard things right or not.

"They're not _cute_," the blonde suddenly bit back, the anger clear in his tone, "It's not cute at all!"

"I didn't mean–"

"What the hell does that mean anyway? Did you – you, wait, did you call me cute?" Naruto asked, suddenly surprised when the full impact of what Sasuke had said hit him.

"No! That's not at all what I said, usuratonkachi. Don't look into things that aren't there," he denied quickly, wondering just what it was that he was telling the blonde not to look into.

"Well then what the hell did you say it for?"

What _did_ he say it for? When he really thought about it, he couldn't deny that he felt it was the truth. He always thought Naruto was cute, especially when he was angry like now.

Maybe that was why it was so easy for him to love riling the blonde up.

"I said it so you would quit pitying yourself. Look at how pathetic you are," the raven bit back, his tone harsh and pointed, sending a shiver up the blonde's spine.

"Jesus Christ, you act as if it were _my_ slip of the tongue. You don't have to be such an asshole. And you asked _me_ those questions in the first place."

Just the look in the blonde's eyes was enough to make Sasuke feel guilty. If there was something worse than feeling guilty, Naruto's words would have made him feel it.

"Well you didn't have to act like me thinking you're cute is the most disgusting thing in the world," the raven mumbled, feeling as if some sort of apology was in order but unsure of how to go about delivering it.

"I'm not disgusted. I'm pleasantly shocked," the blonde admitted with a blush.

"Tch, don't take it as a compliment, dobe," Sasuke snapped, a hint of a blush adorning his cheeks as well.

"You're so callous! And I will take it as a compliment because I didn't know the word cute or any variation of the word existed in your vocabulary. So thank you for the compliment," Naruto stated, a wry smile twisting across his lips at the look on Sasuke's face during the explanation.

"Are you insulting the size of my vocabulary?" the raven asked in a dangerous tone while Naruto began to laugh.

"I would never!" he promised, breaking out into a fit of laughter at Sasuke's mock anger.

"Dobe, I know how to torture you in the worst ways possible. I'd stop laughing if I were you," he warned as he raised his hands, his fingers spread and bent slightly in a forewarning of what was to come.

"No!" the blonde pleaded loudly, his laughter continuing as he scooted away from the raven as he advanced upon him, "Don't tickle me!"

"You asked for it," Sasuke stated before pouncing the blonde who's laughter skyrocketed as graceful hands found every ticklish spot they could.

"Stop!" the blonde pleaded through his laughter, "Sasuke please! I'm gonna die!"

"You won't die, dobe. You always overact."

Somehow it took Sasuke to stop tickling Naruto to understand how promiscuous the position they were in was.

He was straddling the blonde who was lying flat on the ground, panting heavily, an occasional giggle escaping his lips in the aftermath.

Their eyes connected and both sets of expressions sobered immediately as if both had somewhat of the same revelation at the same time. And by the look they both shot each other, it was as if they could speak without words.

"I'm actually happy: not just pleasantly shocked. I'm happy. Interpret that however you want," Naruto stated, continuing the conversation from before and breaking the silence in the process.

And Sasuke did interpret it how he wanted. He leaned down until his lips were on Naruto's, planting a soft kiss there before pulling back to catch the blonde's reaction.

"Interpret _that_ however you want," Sasuke repeated, a smirk playing across his lips at the look adorning Naruto's features.

"That wasn't an accident, right?" the blonde breathed, his fingers touching his lips softly as if trying to decide if that had happened or not, his gaze lowered from Sasuke's eyes in his shock.

"Did it feel like an accident?" Sasuke asked, his head tilting to the side slightly, his eyes finally catching Naruto's.

"How 'bout a joke, is it a joke?"

Sasuke smiled sadly at how sure Naruto needed to be. No one had willingly showed affection to him before. He _had _to make sure this wasn't just some sick joke.

"Have I ever told a joke in my life?"

It was like a chorus to a song; Sasuke knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when. Naruto smiled widely, his arm lifting up to cover his eyes as he laughed softly. He had never in his life felt so happy.

He had no idea how to channel this feeling. It was welling up inside him and he had no idea what to do with it.

So he did the only thing that came to his mind; he dropped his arm from before his eyes before pushing himself up far enough so his lips were only centimeters away from Sasuke's, his eyes searching the raven's dark ones, as if trying to determine if this was ok.

But before he could establish whether it was or not, Sasuke closed the distance.

"You don't need to ask with your eyes if it's ok. It'll always be ok," Sasuke whispered, his breath ghosting across Naruto's parted lips, sending a shiver up his spine as the words rolled over him.

"Always?" he asked, his eyes drifting away as a smile ghosted across his lips. That was such an immense pledge to make, "We're young. That's a lot to promise."

"We're ninja. We die young."

Maybe that's why it was ok to be so impulsive.

Maybe this one impulse could be forgiven.

End.

I'm sorry if some of you were expecting a lemon but they're twelve you nasties! (Ok, in this timeline, Naruto's thirteen by a month but STILL!) I can maybe read a fic like that but I don't think I can write it. I'm sorry!

At least I gave you guys you're sasunaru ending right? Maybe a timeskip lemon? Pahaha I'm just kidding. Maybe.


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